Lee was really excited about having a built in pool, Paul was a little skeptical of all the maintenance. Also, how do you inspect a pool in February? That's what the sellers were counting on! Its covered with snow and ice on top of that. But the water was at a good level, just below the skimmer. Good faith... We knew what it was, but did they?
We later learned that you should hold money back in escrow as a part of the contract process when dealing with a pool purchase. There is lots to consider, the pump, filter, waterlines, the liner, the vermiculite bottom, all things we learned when we bought this particular house. 
The main thing we learned is to ask questions... lots of them. We did ask the realtor about the condition of the pool. She said it was only installed in 2001, seven summers of enjoyment. That's good. Then we asked the owner directly. He said it was six years old (oh well, whats one year) and he maintained it himself.
On top of that it had a pool room and an out door bathroom/shower right on the patio attached to the house! Whats better than that? It was looking more and more like a party house with its pool, big patio and huge stone barbeque pit. It was easy to anticipate a joyous summer. Whats that? No CO on the outdoor bath? Or the den addition? That would delay things.
